Carol McGiffin on our body confidence crisis
‘My friend and Loose Women colleague Nadia Sawalha has been leading the charge against what she calls ‘stinking thinking’ – her way of describing a deep-set and ingrained dislike of the way she looked – that caused her years of misery.
She’s well over it now and, instead of hating her body, she’s hating herself for wasting so much time stressing over something that wasn’t important, let alone life-threatening.
Her recent Instagram post was a photograph I took of her, on the beach in Marbella, 20 years ago. I sent it to her because she looked as though I was about to shoot her with a gun, instead of a camera. She was so visibly horrified, it perfectly encapsulated her fear, but also the insanity of those who aren’t happy with their bodies.
But where does the idea of not accepting the skin you’re in come from? I’ve never really felt it. It’s easy to blame social media and skinny celebs, but that will never stop, so how do parents teach kids not to be influenced? It would help if so many adults weren’t guilty of it themselves. When I was growing up, weight, shape or anything bodyrelated was never mentioned in our house. Not that I’m perfect, far from it. I don’t like the new layer of padding that’s turned up around my middle. But, barring a surgical sucking out session, it’s going nowhere!
My arms bother me too (think bingo wings!), but not enough to go down the gym. My unreconstructed mastectomy isn’t ideal either, but it doesn’t upset me enough to go through a traumatic operation to fix it, so I accept it.
And that’s the secret. Accept what you are. You don’t have to love it, but you really shouldn’t let it get you down, or worse, ruin your life.’
THEWAY I SEE IT... Wise words from our feisty, fearless and funny columnist